I've been hungry for reviews on the Strike King.  Jason Kovack graciously obliged my request (thanks!).  This seems like the sleeper ball of the year from Big B.

In the mean time, I picked up a single drill Strike King Black Pearl and Meanstreak Brawler from JamminJD here (thanks again!). The spans and pitches were close enough that I could get an idea what they are like. Both were OOB and basically brand new.

Took them to the lanes along with my Ringer and Versa Max. The house oiled for a league that had just wrapped up, so I had a good broken down shot to test out the Strike King in particular.

Man what a ball! Glided through the heads and mids like it was skating, but then when it hit the dry it responded beautifully with a smooth, angular move. I played the twig and bounced it off the gutter with no problem. Moved inside and played down the second arrow with equal success. This is what I hoped for when I bought the Meanstreak.

The Brawler was disappointing to me. Found it squirty in its OOB state and wonder if I'd like it better with more surface. My Ringer at 2000 abralon had way better recovery from the outside and more continuation through the pins. The balls had a similar motion when the Brawler picked up the lanes but sometimes it just slid. I will try some surface changes on this ball.

Here was the difference between all the balls and the Strike King. Ringer: 8 boards. Brawler: 6. Versa Max: 4.

Here's the layouts. Forgot to mention Versa is at OOB too.

you have the Tri-Grip fit in the Ringer and Versa? Do you also have it in the Strike King and Brawler?

Not yet.  I drop the Strike King off tomorrow to get the Tri Grip put in.  The Brawler I'm going to play around with the surface a little bit more first and decide if I want to keep it.  I have too much equipment and might not need it.

The balls are close enough to my spans and pitches that I can get an idea of the ball motion.  I just need to take into account my release will be far from perfect and that impacts the ball reaction.  It was close enough that I got many clean releases from both balls.

Try your Brawler with the gloss knocked off a bit.  I've tried mine at 2000, shiny, and for most situations the in-between is most versatile for me.

It's strength is the smooth reaction (like a solid) but with a little more kick (late) and better carry as the lanes transition. For what it's worth, mine is laid out nearly identical to yours, too.

Thanks Lane. How does the Brawler compare to the Ringer? That ball is much stronger than I expected and is really a fantastic piece.  One of those that I don't want to put down even when I should.

Don't forget the Brawler is a hybrid version of the Nexus f(p+f) coverstock. It is not a weak cover by any means and will still need a fair amount of head oil. Combined with that layout, the low hole is also helping the ball start up sooner, so in all reality you are probably just seeing the ball pick up too soon and its giving you a wishy-washy reaction down lane. If you are on a condition you can throw the strike king with success, especially with that layout, the Brawler is likely too much ball. As for comparison to the Ringer, I have the Brawler a good 4-5 with my feet, sometimes 6-7 stronger than my Ringer with similar layouts. And my Strike King is another few weaker than my Ringer. Either way, good looking arsenal, love all those "B"s!

DOug,

I double what bowler001 says here or impliesl:
If the Strike King and the Ringer are performing well, it is likely there is too much dry or not enough midlane oil for a strong ball like the Brawler to save up enough energy to hit and hook well. The Brawler needs at least true medium oil or lots of ball speed; the SK and the Ringer like light to medium-light oil and they need more dry to make the turn.

quote:

"Thanks Lane. How does the Brawler compare to the Ringer? That ball is much stronger than I expected and is really a fantastic piece.  One of those that I don't want to put down even when I should."


dougb,

My Brawler likes more oil than the Ringer, and with the pin down it's much more smooth once it finds friction.  The Ringer is a couple boards weaker on the fresh, with the differences in total hook more subtle as the lanes dry out.  The Ringer is longer and more angular on average for me.

All too often we fall in love with the "hockey stick" reaction because our eyes see it more easily, and it's in vogue.  Never underestimate a strong and smooth ball that can keep you out of trouble, especially when the lanes are tougher.  I have yet to see my Brawler be anything near "unpredictable".  If the Brawler's reaction is "boring" to some, I'll take it all day everyday.  Good luck to you.

By the way, I'm also impressed with the Strike King. I drilled mine "Rico" to keep it smooth since I usually bring it out as the lanes have dried a bit.

How much does the pin to PAP distance come into play here?  My PAP is 4 5/8 over and 1/16 up.  The Brawler was not drilled for me and the pin to PAP is slightly longer than the Ringer and Aura.  I'm wondering if that extra length is what's giving the ball less flare.  It seems to me this ball at this layout would be best for me on fresh shots for a down and in shot.  Comments?

The longer the pin-PAP, the less the ball will flare. It's relative to to the maximum RG differential for the ball for each bowler. There's no set formula. The less it flares, the less it will hook. As for where it loses hook, it depends on the surface; generally polished balls will lose hook in the backend, while dull balls will lose it in the midlane. Both will get more length, relative to the same bowler and the same ball.

There are so many factors that come into play here...

As far as pin to pap distance goes, if you are able to get a reaction out of the strike king, which has much lower flare potential, with what appears to be a similar pin to pap distance, I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

I think the biggest issue coming into play here are a multitude of layout and surface prep that induce earlier roll with less backend. Start by looking at the drill angle, which was probably rather large before the low hole was punched. That low hole pulled the PSA towards your VAL, creating a stronger drill angle, which means a faster 1st transition (shorter skid phase). In addition to that, you have a rather large val angle which creates a slower second transition (longer hook phase). Combine those two factors with a fairly aggressive surface prep, and you end up with exactly what you are describing.

You take those factors and compare those to your roll characteristics, which haven't been explored yet, and you can really get into an undesirable motion. Say you are a lower tilt/lower rotation bowler with a below average rev rate...that will definitely not be a layout to open the lane up with. It will be ideal playing more parallel with the lane as it will give you very little recovery.

A good test is to put a piece of tape on your pap and watch it migrate. If the tape does a tight lazy wobble around your pap  all the way down the lane, then you will easily know the ball is never really transitioning. If the tape gets into a wild wobble very quickly, then you will know its picking up too soon, and can possibly look at options like bringing the surface back up and/or plugging the weight hole.